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Setting is not a Place, it’s an Emotion

To new writers, setting is passive, to place the reader geographically. A few prosy sentences and move on. To experienced writers, it’s seminal to the plot, an extension of the characters. Here’s what how-to-write books say:

“Setting is an important element of literature because authors use it to establish the atmosphere or mood of the piece.” (Writing from A to Z )

“Don’t tell us what it’s like. … Let us come to our own conclusions. Is it scary? Imposing? Barren? Evoke the mood by the description, not be telling us…” (Noah Lukeman)

“Setting can help to portray a swirl of emotion… When a reader senses that setting is being used to reveal something important, there is no danger of its being what one student calls ‘the stuff you skip’.” (Janet Burroway)

They all agree setting isn’t intended to objectively describe a location, rather to buttress plot and characters.

Close your eyes and describe the scent of the flower bed that borders a scraggly front lawn, the dreary London day, the sound of the subway. Each of those images mean little outside of the reader’s experience, connections to other parts of the story, and motivations. The flower bed tells us the person living inside the shack hasn’t given up. The dreary London day juxtaposes the character’s mood. The subway sound means new beginnings, hope. Readers don’t care a lot about the setting except as it affects the story. (I stipulate James Michener is an exception, as are nature writers).

Let’s try an experiment. The setting is a park. What do you see (don’t peek)?

Most readers expect this:

…but the description that follows, through the eyes of the main character, says this:

The first is no surprise. The second informs us about the state of mind, the experiences, the temperament of the character. S/he completely misses the beauty inherent in the trees and nature, thanks to a raging thirst that makes everything look deadly.

Another example–think of the Country Western song. The lyrics are often tragic, about loss and failure, but the feeling evoked by music is upbeat–man’s ability to overcome, to get up despite being knocked down again and again, to find happiness against all odds.

That’s how to write a scene. It’s not what the room looks like, it’s what happens there that matters.

Jacqui, this is an absolutely outstanding post – not what we see but what we sense. You who love sensory experience grasp the essence of location in a story. Thanks for one of the best posts yet.
OK, now I have to re-write, oh, everything…